


Brushing Hands with Death

by TheWorkoftheHeart



Category: One Piece
Genre: Hurt Roronoa Zoro, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Sanji Is Not A Vinsmoke, THE FACT THAT THAT'S A TAG, Waiting, that's unrelated but i'm gonna state it in every fic with him in it so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWorkoftheHeart/pseuds/TheWorkoftheHeart
Summary: It was the life one experienced as a pirate, and the Straw Hats had long accepted this destiny of uneven fate many moons ago.That didn’t make those moments any less terrifying. Especially not to Luffy.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 14
Kudos: 144





	Brushing Hands with Death

Brushes with death weren’t uncommon for the Straw Hat crew. On many occasions, they’d escaped death by a mere hair; sometimes, they’d looked Death in the eyes and gave him his own judgement, declining his inviting hand, returning to continue their journeys on the seas. It was the life one experienced as a pirate, and the Straw Hats had long accepted this destiny of uneven fate many moons ago.

That didn’t make those moments any less terrifying. Especially not to Luffy.

No one saw it happen, but everyone could assume the events based on its outcome; a cleared battlefield, the scattered bodies of Marines, and in the center Zoro, his own sword driven through his back, blood seeping from between his lips. Their celebration of victory quickly became one of panic upon seeing Zoro in this state; he was completely unresponsive to Usopp’s calls to awaken him, and Chopper urgently rushing to his side and touching his face elicited no response at all. Despite Luffy’s desire to remain _calm_ , to demand his crew take Zoro to their medical ward as fast as they could, demand that they stop his bleeding... the words wavered in his throat. His vision was hazy in his peripheral, his mind flashed quickly to the way Ace’s body looked on the cobblestone, draped lifelessly, just like this--

Nami’s hand on his shoulder held him steady. He hadn’t noticed he was losing his balance, teetering forward on unsteady feet.

“Get him to the Sunny,” Luffy urged, and it came out with more urgency than he wanted it to have. Robin and Franky were careful as they pulled him from the ground, keeping the blade in place so as to not further his bleeding. The puddle of sticky red reached Luffy’s sandals and he felt bile in his stomach begin to rise; he forced himself to step back, shooting his hands forward as far as he could until the familiar white banisters of the ship met his hold. As soon as he’d gripped it, he fired himself towards the boat, not wanting to stay on the scene any longer.

Being alone on the boat with blood-coated shoes didn’t help much, either. Each step imprinted a wavering red outline on the grass, his mind began to churn, his stomach hurt with each passing second.

He can’t lose Zoro. Zoro’s his right hand, his first mate, his best friend, his _boyfriend_. He’s supposed to become the world’s greatest swordsman. He’s supposed to be there when Luffy makes it to the top.

A world without Zoro by his side is a world unfit for a pirate king. 

Luffy ran a hand through his hair, feeling the sweat drip from the edges of unkempt strands, trying to keep himself steady. He focused on the way the boat gently swayed underneath him, trying to find solace in her coddling embrace, like a mother rocking her baby, trying to reassure him things would be okay. 

The shouts of his crew grew nearer, snapping him out of his fantasy. Things _weren’t_ okay, and he didn’t know if they _would_ be.

Using her wings, Robin made her way onto the deck with Zoro tucked gently in her arms. He looked paler, colder; even the mossy green hue of his hair seemed to be missing, dampened by the sickening embrace of death.

Robin tried to shoot Luffy a reassuring smile, but it didn’t help loosen his nerves. He followed her close as they hurried to the medical ward, trying to keep an eye on Zoro over her shoulder. Faintly, Luffy could see the fabric of her shirt moving under his ragged breaths. _He’s still breathing. There’s still time._

Luffy was moments from entering the room before a hand pulled him away, keeping him from following Robin inside; he could see Chopper coming in through the other entrance, Sanji closing the door as soon as he made his way inside, and it boiled an anger in his chest. “Let me go!” Luffy shouted, immediately kicking his legs, looking behind him at whoever had pulled him into their arms. “I need to be in there! Let go of me! Get off!”

It was Franky holding him, his grip unfaltering under Luffy’s squirming. “You’re freaking out too much, Luffy,” comes his reply, sharp and quick and sympathetic. “You’re only going to freak yourself out if you go in after them.”

“B-but-- Zoro!”

The utter panic in his voice as Zoro’s name escaped Luffy’s throat made Franky flinch. It had been years, but the scars of a loved one dying never truly heal, and he knew it too well for himself. He knew that urgency, that fear, that sadness. 

Despite it all, he didn’t let Luffy go. Instead, he carried Luffy into the men’s dormitories. The others were waiting there for him, worried looks plastered on their faces.

“He’s going to be okay, Luffy,” Jinbei’s voice rang out as Franky closed the door behind him and sat the captain down. “He’s still breathing. You’ve seen the things Zoro has survived. Nothing could kill him, even Death himself. Zoro will be fine.”

“They stabbed him with his own sword!” Luffy shouted, his lungs ripping at the force of it. “They took- they took Kitetsu and stabbed him with it!”

“That sword would never kill him.” It’s Nami who interrupted next, trying to play as the voice of reason. “It’s cursed, isn’t it? If she’s a cursed sword, I don’t think she’d be capable of killing her own swordmaster.”

The words did little to keep Luffy calm. He was still trembling, still wanting to scream, still wanting to go find the Marines that tried to take his Zoro and rip their hearts out from their own throats. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him and it only made him more weary.

Finally, a sob escaped him. He tipped his head down, his hat falling into his face, as words struggled to escape his lips. “I-I can’t lose Zoro. I _can’t_.”

“Oh, Luffy...” 

He felt Franky’s hand touch his shoulder, and that was all he needed to make him start crying. Tears fell from his eyes alongside ragged breaths. Jinbei, Nami, and Usopp quickly came to his side, while Brook kept an eye on the window closest to the medical ward, waiting for any signal about Zoro’s condition. 

An hour passed. Then two, three, maybe more. The entire crew was restless. 

By this point, Luffy had cried himself into exhaustion, curled up in Jinbei’s arms as tears stained his robe. Nami was absentmindedly tracing patterns on Luffy’s hand while Usopp worked her hair into a braided ponytail, and Franky had found himself taking over the position as watchman so Brook could tune his violin and focus on something other than the vastness of the ocean outside the window.

Conversation was sparse between the few of them. Franky or Brook would occasionally engage with someone, but it would be a short-lived talk about trivial things, dying down quickly due to their own anxiousness and the tension of the room. It was hard to focus when someone so close to them was in the room just across from them, knowing he could good and well be dead, that the situation may be out of their control.

“Should someone go check on them?” Usopp asked after the wait had crested its third hour. “I-I mean, it can’t be that bad, right? Right?”

“I don’t want to scare them by barging in or having them see me peeking in the window,” Brook replied, “but if anyone thinks it may be helpful to go check in, I’ll be glad t-”

Before he could finish, Robin tapped her nail to the window. Franky, who must’ve zoned out while staring at the sea, seemed startled by her arrival, making a loud sound of surprise that slowly rattled Luffy from his rest. Franky pushed the window open a few inches so he could speak to Robin. Their voices were low, too low, and everyone was straining to hear _anything_ , to get an update of any kind on Zoro’s condition. If he was alive, if he was awake, if he was sleeping. If he was dead.

When Franky turned around and looked to their captain, Luffy found himself completely awake, not at all in the hazy mindlessness that comes with sudden consciousness. He expected the worst. _They couldn’t save him. He’s gone, Luffy, he’s--_

“He’s asleep, and probably will be for a while, but he’s alive. Chopper doesn’t want too many people in the room, so he’s sending Robin and Sanji back here, but Chopper said it’s fine if you go see him, Luffy.”

The words felt like bricks. He knew they were good, that the news was good, but he still felt a heaviness, a sharp pain; maybe his expectations had been too high. Maybe he’d expected to hear Zoro would be awake, laughing and giving Chopper hell as he always did. To hear he was unconscious... it still felt like bad news to him.

He made his way to the medical ward anyways. Sanji and Robin were sharing a cigarette by the railing just outside, drenched in sweat, their legs trembling underneath them; they looked like a wreck, both of them. Luffy didn’t say a word as he pushed the door open and made his way inside.

When he saw Zoro laying on the cot, it was almost peaceful. He looked like he was resting after any ordinary fight, one hand stretched over the bed, the other curled towards his abdomen, his face smooth and not as rugged in the amber lighting. It filled Luffy with an overwhelming sense of calm, seeing him like that.

He stepped over to the cot and took a seat beside it, intertwining their fingers together, feeling his warmth, feeling the faintness of a heartbeat in the tips of his fingers from what was likely a rush of adrenaline, even in his sleep. He didn’t look at all like the man they’d pulled from the battlefield, bloodied and pale and cold; he looked clean and normal and _warm_ , so warm. 

“It may be a couple of days before he truly wakes up,” Chopper told Luffy, his voice quiet. “He may stir every now and then, but he may not remember the conversations you have while he’s awake until he’s able to remain conscious for more than a few minutes at a time. But he’ll be okay, Luffy. Don’t worry.”

For a long time, Luffy just watched Zoro in silence. He held Zoro’s hands and traced the outline of them, traced the way his middle finger was just a little crooked in one spot on both hands, the calluses on his fingertips, his jagged fingernails from where he’d mindlessly bite at them while deep in thought. He’d watch Zoro’s chest rise and fall steadily, and listen to the beeps of machines that accompanied each breath, counting how many beeps could be made before Zoro would exhale. 

It was only after a few hours that Luffy spoke. “Zoro...” 

Zoro moved a little, as though the name caught his attention, but he didn’t wake up. Luffy didn’t expect him to.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so glad, Zoro. I was so worried about you. You’re my right hand, Zoro. I can’t be the pirate king without you.”

Zoro’s hand moved a little in Luffy’s hold. Luffy pulled it up to his lips carefully, kissing his knuckles. 

“I love you, Zoro. Make sure you wake up, okay? Our journey isn’t over yet.”

\----

It was two days before Zoro had become fully conscious again. In those two days, the Straw Hats had all come in to visit him, to make sure he was doing okay and healing well; they’d all had conversations with him they knew good and well he’d likely forget when he woke up again, based on the glossiness of his eyes and how slurred his words were. But with each conversation, there was improvement; his words became clearer, he was able to respond a little faster, he was able to talk a little more without needing to cough up a lung after each sentence. It was a steady improvement, and they knew Luffy was relieved about it. 

When Zoro finally woke up, Luffy was beside him. His head was resting on the sheets of the cot, right beside Zoro’s shoulder, held up by one arm crossed in front of him and the other behind him so his hand could tangle itself in Zoro’s hair. Zoro embraced the warmth immediately, humming softly as he took in the sounds of the room, the sensations, the way he was feeling. 

He didn’t feel great, but he felt rested. That was certainly better than nothing.

He turned his head, attempting to sit up; Luffy was quick to wake up and notice his movement, pushing him back down onto his back as carefully as possible.

“Z-Zoro, no, we’ve told you a hundred times, you can’t get out of bed yet.”

Zoro can’t help but chuckle. “A hundred times, eh? Seems like I must’ve been a handful.”

Luffy blinked, and a grin blossomed on his face in seconds. “Wait, you’re- you’re actually awake!”

The gentleness in Luffy’s touch was gone as he threw himself over Zoro, smothering him in a hug. Zoro stifled an “oof” at the sudden impact on his sore chest, but he hugged Luffy right back, turning his head so he could kiss a gentle trail down Luffy’s cheek, down his jaw. 

“Luffy, I’m okay...”

“You had us so worried, Zoro, so worried...”

“You know I wouldn’t die on you. I can’t abandon you.” He paused. “A pirate king needs his swordsman. You said it yourself.”

Luffy’s face went hot on his shoulder. He pulled himself off of Zoro, wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand. “You... you heard that..?”

Zoro nodded. “It was faint, but yeah, of course I did. It was _you_ , Luffy. Of course I heard it.”

Luffy chuckled, rubbing his neck with a touch of embarrassment. “Ah, I didn’t think you could hear me... I’m glad you did, though. Do you remember anything else?”

“Bits and pieces of conversations. Usopp was telling me this hilarious story of some sort, but I don’t remember the details very well... and I think Brook played some music for me, and Sanji came in and we talked for a while at one point, but I don’t remember what the hell we discussed.”

“That’s more than we thought you’d remember.” Luffy gave him a comforting smile. “Do you want me to tell Chopper you’re awake? I think he’s in the kitchen.”

“Nah,” Zoro replied, taking Luffy’s hand and squeezing it. “I just want time with you for a bit.”

Luffy’s face flushed a little, and he laughed. “Okay. That works for me, Zoro.”

Zoro grinned right back, the quietest of laughs falling from his lips. “I’m sure it does. I love you, Luffy.”

“I love you, too, Zoro.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked this, follow me on twitter @hanahana_no__mi! thank you!


End file.
